You Just Don't Divorce

By David J. Stewart

"Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee ... Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus" (Hebrews 13:5; Philippians 2:5)

       I don't understand this selfish generation. I don't understand how people can just walk out on their spouse, quit, and coldheartedly move on. That's not Biblical Christianity. 1st Corinthians 13:8 tells us that love (i.e., charity) never faileth. Thankfully, God doesn't love us because of who we are; but rather, because of Who He is. Amen! 

I don't care what you say, either you love your spouse now and you always will; or else you don't, and you never did. There's no such thing as "I used to love you." That's a lie of the Devil. God's love is unconditional, which means it has absolutely nothing to do with the way we live, the words we speak or who we are. This is why we read in Romans 5:8, "But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." 

The Bible plainly commands in Philippians 2:5 that every believer is to have the mind of Christ. What a beautiful truth! To think, every believer can possess the same thoughts as the Lord Jesus Christ. This is why we learn in John 1:1-3,14 and Revelation 19:13 that Jesus is the Living Word and the Bible is the Written Word. To study the Word of God is to learn the mind of Jesus. Boy this is good stuff.

I'm so wearied with hearing people nowadays attempt to justify their divorce on the basis of adultery. There are no Biblical grounds for divorce. Jesus plainly taught in Matthew 19:8 that ALL DIVORCE is rooted in a hardened heart... "He saith unto them, Moses because of the hardness of your hearts suffered you to put away your wives: but from the beginning it was not so." If thoughts of the mind are just as sinful as the deed itself, as Jesus taught in Matthew 5:28, then every wife of a lustful husband has a Biblical right to divorce him. How absurd!!! 

Clearly, no sin gives a spouse a right to divorce. 
 

Divorce Is Never Christian

There is nothing even remotely "Christian" about divorce, it is pure heathendom. You just don't divorce! It's never an answer. Divorce is quitting, plain and simple. Anyone can quit; but it takes a special person with God's UNCONDITIONAL LOVE to stay-the-course when the sea waves come crashing against the ship, and all hope seems lost. I don't expect most people to understand what I'm teaching. 

In fact, very few people can comprehend what I am saying at all, because I am talking about true love, i.e., agape love in the Greek. The world's kind of love in the Bible is called phileo love, i.e., a temporal, fleeting fondness that is conditional and may cease at any time. This is what a person means when they say "I don't love (phileo) you anymore." 

I often hear preachers criticize Job's wife for suggesting that Job "curse God and die" in his affliction (Job 2:9); however, I want to point out that Job's wife remained by his side. She didn't divorce him. She didn't abandon. Job had lost everything—his sons, his livestock, his crops, his health and his dignity—but Job's wife stayed. There is no greater loyalty that a wife can express than to stay with her husband no matter what. 

In sharp contrast, women divorce their husbands nowadays over trifle matters. A woman wrote to me and said she divorced her husband because he called her a female dog. Well, God calls you worse... a sinner that deserves to burn in the fires of Hell for all eternity (John 8:24; Romans 3:23; 6:23; Revelation 20:11-15; 2nd Thessalonians 1:8,9).

It's sad but true, we are living in an extremely selfish generation of people, who marry for selfish reasons and are willing to divorce when things aren't going their way. What ever happened to a marriage commitment? If God tolerates our faults and sins, then what gives anyone the right to be self-righteous and divorce? That's what divorce is... 100% self-righteousness. In divorce a person is effectively saying, "I am not as much of a sinner as you; therefore, I have a right to abandon you, break my marriage vows and go my own way." How hypocritical. Anyone who would divorce a spouse who is pleading with them in tears not to leave is a monster. 
 

One Of My Heroes

Chicago Police Officer, Jim Mullen. This photo was taken in 2006—ten years after his injury. Jim is an encouragement to me, as I know he is to many others as well.  A true American hero.

When I used to live in Chicago back in 1996, a city police officer (Jim Mullen) was shot in the neck on the job. The young man was completely paralyzed and has been a quadriplegic since. I remember that the first thing his wife (Athena Mullen) did back then was to cut her beautiful long hair short, because she wanted to relate with her husband's loss. 

I admired Mrs. Mullen back then for standing by her man, and so much more today for staying-the-course. I cannot express in words the respect and admiration I have for such a woman, who honors her marriage vows, remaining faithful "for better, for worse; in sickness, as in health; 'til death do us part." She is one of my heroes. 

Tears came to my eyes as I watched this video. There is no way humanly possible how anyone could possibly understand what Mrs. Mullen has endured, and the sacrifices she has made; but she has stayed by her husband's side. She could have quit, and moved on to greener pastures; but she did the right thing by staying. She could have ran off with another man who wasn't disabled; but she chose to stay with her husband. That is God's unconditional love. Athena is an American hero and certainly so is her husband, Jim, who was wounded in the line of duty. 

Here's a video 15-years later of Jim Mullen sharing his experience, life and new business...

If anyone reading this article is considering a divorce, I want you to think about the Mullen family. If they can make it, so can you! It is tragic that a divorce is so easy to get in America. Anyone can quit; but it takes a special person, like Athena Mullen, to stay-the-course and hang-in-there. You just don't divorce, no matter what!

If anyone reading this article is considering a divorce, I want you to think about the Mullen family. If they can make it, so can you! It is tragic that a divorce is so easy to get in America. Anyone can quit; but it takes a special person, like Athena Mullen, to stay-the-course and hang-in-there. You just don't divorce, no matter what!


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